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Christmas Reflections

Many of the boys in My Father’s House have run away from home due to

physical/sexual abuse from their families or because their parents are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Our youngest boy came to the project at the age of 4; he was found abandoned on the rubbish dump and covered in marks from where his mother had been biting him. Two of our boys have witnessed one of their parents being murdered: one boy’s mother held his father down whilst her boyfriend stabbed him and the other boy has to live with the fact that his own dad murdered his mum.

Christmas is a time to be with family and loved ones. Unfortunately, as you’ve just read, many of our boys don’t have any family or have no family suitable to take care of them. Parental love is something many of our boys have never felt. We work closely with whatever family the boy has to try to restore them both and this Christmas we hope that most of our boys will be able to pass a few days with some sort of family – their own or a substitute family. On the favela many of the children work on the rubbish dump picking through the rubbish to find recyclables, the majority of them supporting entire families from the little money they manage to earn.

For many children Christmas Day will be spent just like any other day, up on the dump picking through the rubbish, and Christmas lunch will be whatever they find there.Christmas is also when we remember the birth of Jesus Christ, who said in John’s Gospel that he came to give us life – and life to the full. It’s only through Jesus Christ and the new life that he brings that these boys and these children will change their lives.

So during this busy Christmas time please give a thought to these children who won’t be spending Christmas with loving families but rather on the streets and rubbish dump of Olinda. And we’ll be praying for all of you that this Christmas you might remember that Jesus Christ came to save and give life… and not just to street kids.

Brazil should have a greater role in international affairs and a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, says French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

On a visit to Rio de Janeiro Mr Sarkozy said Brazil and the EU would adopt a common position on the global financial crisis at the next G20 meeting. The French leader was speaking at a summit between the two sides. During his trip Mr Sarkozy is expected to sign a deal to help Brazil build its first nuclear-powered submarine.

Defence deals

It is one of a number of defence agreements Mr Sarkozy is due to sign during talks with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Among them is a deal in which France is expected to allow for the transfer of technology, enabling Brazil to build four conventional submarines. It is reported the agreement will also include the purchase of 50 French Cougar helicopters that will be built in Brazil.

Mr Sarkozy is being accompanied by several ministers and French industrialists. The French leader’s visit is his final act as EU president. From January the six-month rotating position goes to the Czech Republic. At the EU-Brazil summit Mr Sarkozy said the Latin American country had an important role to play in global decision-making. From January the six-month rotating position goes to the Czech Republic. At the EU-Brazil summit Mr Sarkozy said the Latin American country had an important role to play in global decision-making. “I’m being honest when I say we need Brazil in world governance,” he said. “I think we need Brazil as a permanent member of the Security Council,” he added.

New financial order

Mr Sarkozy says Brazil has a role to play in world governance

Brazil is also pressing for a greater role to be given to developing countries in controlling the world’s financial systems, following the global economic crisis and here too Mr Sarkozy was supportive.

He suggested that Brazil and France would jointly bring proposals to the next meeting of the broader G20 group in London next April aimed at supporting business people, not speculators.

“We decided with President Lula that things must change and change profoundly,” the French leader declared.

“We decided to narrow our positions and arrive in London with a common vision, on the future role of the IMF, the system of management of financial institutions,” he said. “We cannot allow a single financial institution to be uncontrolled or unsupervised,” he added. The BBC’s Gary Duffy in Brazil says Latin America’s biggest economy and diplomatic power has had a long ambition to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and the support given by President Sarkozy will undoubtedly be welcome.